Kate Middleton

[WILKO9]

AIBU to find Kate Middleton really annoying ? It's probably just me but I find her so smug. Anyway feel much better for getting that off my chest !!!

I would imagine she would be willing to avoid being harried by the press. I don't think she's stupid!

Meanwhile, do I need to tell the plumber in my road that he was avoiding a semblance of independence during his twenties due to working in his dad's business? Or is it this accusation only levelled at... what? Women, businesses that sell luxuries, upper-middle- class people?

I'd rather not say that to him, of course because it seems stonkingly rude.

She largely worked for her parents' company : which got no publicity at all.

Well, if you believe that...but certainly it has got a great deal of publicity, as its trotted out every time its asked just what this woman did between graduation and marrying. Although it remains very mysterious as to what she actually did.

So she did have as much financial independence as any child of a business owner needs.

I have never heard of this rule before. I know plenty of people who own businesses, whose children have jobs and careers outwith those businesses. The Middleton party planning business is actually a pretty small one and seems unlikely to provide gainful employment for 3 children, not lest because of its limited remit.

Face up to it, the management by Buckingham Palace of William's potential brides has backfired slightly, because female graduates who do actually have to go out and get jobs, and in fact most working females, find those excuses for not working a bit pathetic. Therefore a lot of women like me will always be a bit sceptical of Kate because she simply didn't do anything with her life in that long period between graduating and marrying.

The Royal Family are a bit of an outlier on the moneyed, privileged set anyway. Not the most popular choice for a gel to marry into, have to follow certain rules which means they can't do a lot of the fun stuff.

well meaning friend could have provided a safe job for her

By the way, that sounds far more nepotistic and nothing-jobs-for-the-well-connected than working in the family business!

TheIncomparable well meaning friend could have provided a safe job for her

By the way, that sounds far more nepotistic and nothing-jobs-for-the-well-connected than working in the family business!

Deliberately so. Its the Middletons we are talking about here!

Face up to it, the management by Buckingham Palace of William's potential brides has backfired slightly, because female graduates who do actually have to go out and get jobs, and in fact most working females, find those excuses for not working a bit pathetic. Therefore a lot of women like me will always be a bit sceptical of Kate because she simply didn't do anything with her life in that long period between graduating and marrying.

The important thing is recognising it was management. But management it was. At the time, they must have thought it was better than the alternative of years of "a source close to Kate says she got fucking wasted at the Christmas party, and committed rude acts with the photocopier. Go to page 3 to see the images".

The Royal Family are a bit of an outlier on the moneyed, privileged set anyway. Not the most popular choice for agelto marry into, have to follow certain rules which means they can't do a lot of the fun stuff.

Deliberately so. Its the Middletons we are talking about here!

So why, for the love of sugar honey iced tea and crack cocaine, would it have been better for her to have such job with a "friend of the family" than the family business!

Why though? loads of mothers don't work...... dunno why she should have to be seen to be working as well as official engagements.

She did work for jigsaw for a while, a cushy number no doubt but it didn't work for reasons connected to the amount of attention she got for bieng will's gf

......... the idea that she ought to work just because she ought to, when theyy don't need the money, is that not very mc. oh how dreadful.

She largely worked for her parents' company : which got no publicity at all.

coughs The joy of having older children is that I've been buying from Party Pieces since the year 2000. And believe me, in those days there were no pictures of the family. Funnily enough, as soon as Kate and Wills got together, photos of the family started appearing in the inside frontspiece. The last time Kate appeared was about 6 months before the engagement.

They made their millions when Woolworths closed down. I remember thinking "Who buys from Party Pieces? It's the same tat as Woolworths, only with a 20% mark up."

Then Woolworths closed, you couldn't get party stuff for a while, Party Pieces cornered the market, then when Toys R Us and those party shops started stocking party stuff it was still OK, because Brand Kate opened up the American market and bingo.... enough money to hire out The Goring and still have loose change to buy a racehorse.

It was generally acknowledged in the editorial that Kate's role was to take the photos. To be fair, I've had my own online business and taking the photos of the blessed stock takes forever. Well, too long to have a decent mumsnet habit

I miss Woolworths

scremersford
Why should she work?

Why should any graduate child of rich parents work?

If they do not have to, why should they?

BoldFox the idea that she ought to work just because she ought to, when theyy don't need the money, is that not very mc. oh how dreadful.

Kind of behind the times, because in the set in which the Wysteria sisters set out their stall, there are a multitude of pretty daughters of wealthy parents. So to make a good (and wealthy) match, increasingly they need something to make them stand out from the crowd. But most of that set wouldn't want to marry into Royalty, because of the hassle. Most of them are also marrying later now so we have no debs, people meet up with other people at uni but then lose contact, so increasingly some form of job or paying hobby is a smart move.

Its awfully sad when one of the gels fails entirely to marry and remains dependent in her fifties on daddy. Probably actually a nicer life in many ways but everyone pities her, which must be annoying.

My niece was supposed to be living with her at uni. But there was a panic when ma Middleton realised willy was taking a year out. It meant Katie too had to defer. Ma Middleton should run a course on social engineering.

Most of them are also marrying later now so we have no debs
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/uknews/10414066/In-pictures-Debutantes-at-Queen-Charlottes-Ball.html

I guess if you include Chalet girl for friends and crewing friends' yachts in the Caribbean and looking after villas in Monaco as work
then yes, most of the girls do work now

Genuine question, but how does everyone "know" that Carole Middleton engineered this match?

Scremersford

Er, that was an elegantly written post on you-should-have-a-job-because-otherwise-you-won't-get-a-BOYFRIEND(or husband). You realise that, yes?

i) I don't think "so fucking what?" is an attitude entirely unknown to the upper classes, and;
ii) The only reason we're discussing the former Miss Middleton is because she did get a boyfriend.

TheIncomparable Er, that was an elegantly written post on you-should-have-a-job-because-otherwise-you-won't-get-a-BOYFRIEND(or husband). You realise that, yes?

Not a bad attempt, but you haven't quite got it yet. If you want a wealthy boyfriend from a wealth family, you have to make sure you are in those social circles, and having a job or doing a serious hobby simply widens them. There is indeed nothing to stop anyone from not getting a job and marrying the man from the local job centre queue. He might in fact be a very nice genuine person.

ii) The only reason we're discussing the former Miss Middleton is because she did get a boyfriend.

We wouldn't be discussing her if she had only got a boyfriend.

I'm actually discussing the bigger social issue of how devoting your life to chasing after a man and appearing as a simpering 50s style housewife is unlikely to work without a good deal of luck and an entire family business and social genius like Carole Middleton behind her.

babbas I heard much the same. I've heard much worse about Pippa, but perhaps its jealousy. Never met her so can't say. But definatly a step up from the crazy gang one of the last generation married into (and I don't mean Charles).

I really feel we're going round in circles.

Great. The wealthy look down on fellow wealthy people who spend their days pottering around the garden, nurturing the wisteria, and will prefer to only make lifetime commitments with people who bring money in.

This may or may not be the case.

But none of that is the same as a moral imperative to get a job regardless of your present state of financial independence!

I'm actually discussing the bigger social issue of how devoting your life to chasing after a man and appearing as a simpering 50s style housewife is unlikely to work without a good deal of luck and an entire family business and social genius like Carole Middleton behind her.

You may be giving it to the wrong lecture all.

We are not all convinced that she has dedicated her life to waiting for Prince William, and I'm not sure that anyone was using Catherine's life to work out a post-millennial edition of The Rules.

If they are, they're probably not on mumsnet.

*lecture 'all

Ta1k stole my apostrophe earlier.

I'll be contacting Beachcomber to let him know about this.

TheIncomparable I really feel we're going round in circles.

I didn't realise we were meant to be working towards a conclusion, or a reasoned set of responses. I thought it a light hearted discussion with different people giving their differing viewpoints. Will be marked out of 100? Will you be giving out merits?

We are not all convinced that she has dedicated her life to waiting for Prince William, and I'm not sure that anyone was using Catherine's life to work out a post-millennial edition of The Rules.

I don't think social comment is officially restricted to those who write books on it. Feel free if it inspires you!

William went to Uni to find a wife.

He picked a University with a very high naice gels coefficient
and a course with an even higher naice gels coefficient.
He did not do Physics at UMIST for example.

He succeeded in his aim.
He had a decent number to choose from.
We have only heard about one of the ones he looked at on that catwalk

Scremersford

I would not dream of accusing this thread of either light-heartedness or reason. Fear not! Discussion? Also a bit strong. I'm on the fence.

Anyway, I take it you haven't got a moral imperative.

To be fair, styling The Rules as a book of social commentary is very lighthearted. At the time, WHSmith called it a dating manual. (I think I called it "are you sure it's not a parody?)

Ta1k

I agree with every word. Every. Word.

If they do not have to, why should they?

they shouldn't work. Or, certainly, we should have no say if they work. The problem in this case is that these people are publicly supported not to work. The only leverage we have is that we enable this lifestyle, so we can end it.

I am an immigrant and getting a real feel for the purpose of the royal family - to entertain us, and provide gossip material.

I think I prefer Paris Hilton.

In this specific case, the period under discussion we weren't even funding.

Saying that, she must have had security guards, but that may have been funded by William, who is exceedingly privately wealthy, due to the death of Diana. (She had both a substantial divorce settlement and more financial sense than her sister-in-law.)

She didn't have the sense to make a will.